1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices for warming garments and cloth-like materials.
2. General Background
It is well known that spas and hot tubs are often underutilized during the cold winter months because of the discomfort that results when one leaves a warm spa or hot tub and enters the cold air. Because the rate of heat loss is a large contributor to one's perception of temperature, and this rate is highest when one is warmest (i.e. just leaving a spa or hot tub), the cold air can feel especially chilling. Finally, humid air is a better heat conductor than dry air, so the wet surface of the skin and damp air surrounding a spa or hot tub can cause the air to seem even colder.
Conventional practice has been to quickly wrap oneself in a towel or robe, thereby minimizing as much as possible the chilling effects of the air, and removing the water from the skin. Oftentimes, the towel or robe is brought outdoors so it may be quickly obtained by one leaving the spa or hot tub. In this situation, the towel or robe is oftentimes nearly as cold as the outside air, and may be damp from being in the humid air near the pool or spa. Furthermore, a towel or robe, warm from being indoors and placed on the ground near the spa may be welcoming to spiders or insects looking for a temporary home. Such obstacles provide a strong disincentive for the spa user to even use the spa in the first place.
In the past, a number of electric heating devices have been developed, however, only a few of these are intended to be easily transportable. Additionally, some of these are not concerned with desiccation, such as those for steaming towels in a barbershop. U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,875 was intended to deal with these problems, and provided an improved portable appliance for heating towels and fluid to be used in concert with the administration of a massage. While the '875 device did provide a towel warmer with the portability and some characteristics of a brief case, it lacks any type of automatic temperature control or thermostat, and more importantly safety features to regulate the temperature. It is also somewhat limited in the items it is intended to heat.
Currently, there is no convenient, portable and safe device that will maintain at a warm temperature for a long duration, towels, garments, blankets, gloves/mittens, robes, and other cloth materials. The present invention provides a garment-warming device comprising the latest electronic safety controls that is water resistant, powered from a variety of sources and is easily transportable. Many specific advantages of the present invention are to create a more “consumer-friendly” device that simplifies the more complex garment warmers of the past.